There are many ways to quit smoking. You can quit smoking naturally with hypnotherapy, and the most effective approach to take with hypnotherapy will be the way that is most relevant to you.
You do not need to believe in hypnotherapy to give it a go, but you do need to want to quit, because hypnotherapy is not mind control. It is an aid to assist you to reach your goals. You also need to be open to the suggestions given, rather than be sabotaging the proccess.
Questions for Quit Smoking Naturally
Some things I will look for in a quit a smoking naturally session include: Was it your decision or someone else’s when you started to smoke? For example, were you bullied into smoking by some other kids or siblings, or were you simply following along because your parents smoked? In these examples I would suggest that it was not your decision, but that you were heavily influenced.
I would ask: What did you think this act of smoking was going to give you? For example, did you think it would help you to fit in? Did you think it would give you a way to rebel? Did you think it would give you confidence? And when you think of smoking now, does it still give you confidence?
It is important to understand why you smoke, and why you started. Even if it is a simple habit now, there was a reason why you started and that version of you is still driving your behaviour to a large extent, even if it was a long time ago. That part of you is still very active on an unconscious level.
Resolving the Original Reason
We can address the original reason why you started smoking by doing an age regression and letting that old part of you know that it did not need to smoke in the first place in order to get the feeling that it was looking for. We can give that part of you other ways in order to feel confident, or to fit in, for example.
Another technique is to help you quit smoking naturally with hypnotherapy is to introduce you to your older, wiser self, that part of you who has already worked all of this out. That part of you can be accessed so that it can guide you out of your current predicament, towards a healthier non-smoking version of yourself. That part of you can help you to resolve those original and ongoing reasons as to why you smoke.
In a quit smoking naturally session I am very interested if you have quit before, and started again. I will look at why you started again.
Exposing the Imposter
Did you know that one of the main reasons people smoke is for a sense of relaxation? And yet, there is not one relaxing ingredient in cigarettes! In fact, cigarettes are stimulants. Cigarettes are pieces of paper with poisons. The amount of pure nicotine it would take to kill a person is 50 to 60 mg/kg in a 70-kg adult. That is around half of one measly gram. Did you know that smoking increases your heart rate by c. 10 beats per minute? And did you know that smoking increases your stomach acid significantly? Tell me these are relaxing things – not!
Your natural self is a non-smoker. You were born a non-smoker. A non-smoker is your authentic self. Imagine how it would feel to have that power back – the power to be your authentic self, without the limitations and other serious side effects of smoking. Imagine taking your life back.
Perhaps you are the type of smoker who sees cigarettes as an old friend, a friend who kills you, robs you of your money and leaves you for dead? Er, maybe it’s time to get some new friends?
Did you know that most people with nicotine patches will still have a drive to smoke? This is because it is not so much about addiction, as the idea of relaxation, and the habit that goes with it. After all, when you are on a long haul flight, it is only that last hour or so that you begin craving a cigarette again, because you know the time is nearing for you to have one. It is not the addiction, it is in the mind. This relationship between smoking and the idea of relaxation has become a habit, and habits can be broken.
Alternative Behaviours
There are other things you can do instead of smoke. Simply deep breathing will give you the relaxation you need, by taking in a deep breath, and letting it out slowly, just like a sigh. When we sigh, we automatically relax ourselves, and this is what the act of smoking imitates. How about doing the sigh, without the stimulating poisons? But there are other activities too that your unconscious mind can choose for you to satisfy any other inner needs, such as a need for confidence. These can be retrieved in a hypnotic state.
If you would like help to quit smoking naturally with hypnotherapy, we can help. Horizons Clinical Hypnotherapy Sunshine Coast.